Pallets

ABSTRACT

A pallet moulded from plastics material comprises a platform with incut recesses at its edges. The platform may also have boxlike dished recesses in spaced positions in its surface. The dished recesses are all of the same height to serve as supporting legs, and are tapered to allow a plurality of pallets to nest on top of one another.

United States Patent 11 1 Howard et al. 1 Jan. 9, 1973 54] PALLETS2,896,798 7 1959 Celley ..102 52 x 2,116,381 5/1938 Burke 1 ..206/60 A[76] lmentors- Arthur Ward, 2 Audley 3,253,707 5/1966 Gooding ..206/65 BClose f 30mm; Gwen- 2,615,661 10/1952 Cushman ..108/53 dolen AllceSergant, Longacre 2,544,743 3/1951 Vrabcak ..108/58 berton Arundel,Sussex, both of England FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22 Filed; March11 1971 248,783 1/1964 Australia ..108/56 1 1,277,133 9/1968 Germany..108/51 [21] Appl. No.: 123,180

Primary ExaminerBobby R. Gay [30] Foreign Application Priority DataAssistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-Young & ThompsonMarch 18, 1970 Great Britain ..l3,079/70 [57] ABSTRACT 52 US. Cl. ..10851 108 53,108 58 E Int Cl 65! A pallet moulded from plastics materialcomprises a [58] Field 108/5 platform with incut recesses at its edges.The platform 219/10 may also have box-like dished recesses in spacedpositions in its surface. The dished recesses are all of the [56]References Cited same height to serve as supporting legs, and aretapered to allow a plurality of pallets to nest on top of one another.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 9I975 3.709.160

SHEET '1 0F 2 I nvenlors Jon/v ARTHUR Haw/mo GWENDOLEN 44/05 SERGE/VT I!7/a flrv A llorneys PALLETS This invention relates to pallets, and aimsat the production of a form of pallet having advantages in comparisonwith those now in common use.

The invention consists in a pallet comprising a rectangular board orplatform having hollow box-like recesses constitutin le s", and theunreccssed u er 2 g PP surface area being flat, the side edges of theboard or platform being formed with incut recesses to facilitateengagement by lifting means e.g. hook grabs or loops.

Preferably the pallet is moulded from plastics material, and maycomprise a layer of foamed plastics material which may be provided witha laminate layer of plastics film or sheet on either or each face. Theupper face of the pallet is preferably formed with cavities or recesses,e.g. a central dished recess, and a stepped recess in the middle of eachside of the pallet. Beneath the pallet the walls of these recesses formlegs" and between them provide channels or tunnels, extending from eachside to the opposite side of the pallet, allowing insertion of the limbsof a lifting fork to lift the pallet. The spacing and/or dimensions ofthese channels or tunnels are such as to accommodate the differing limbarrangements of various fork-lift mechanisms. The

legs are preferably all of the same height.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following descriptionof one form (given, however, merely by way of example) which it mayassume, and this description will be more readily followed by referenceto the drawings herewith wherein FIG. 1 represents a perspective viewofa pallet in accordance with the invention:

- FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 represent the pallet shown in FIG. 1 in plan, sideand end views:

FIG. 5 represents a transverse sectional elevation in the plane AA ofFIG. 2: and

FIG. 6 represents an enlarged cross-section of part of the material fromwhich the pallet shown in FIGS. I5 may be made.

In carrying the invention into effect 'in one convenient manner, asshown in the aforesaid drawings, a pallet comprises a rectangular board1, with plain i.e. unturned or unrolled edges, formed with cavities orrecesses in its upper surface. Such cavities or recesses may comprise asquare or rectangular central cavity 2, end recesses 3, and siderecesses 4. The side and end recesses may, as shown, have no outer sidewalls, and the free wall edges of these recesses may be short ofalignment with the edge of the board I, as at 5. For strength eachcavity or recess is formed with a base rigid with the side walls.

Adjacent to each corner of the board I may be provided a further recess6. e.g. of comparatively narrow rectangular shape. As seen in FIG. 2 thedimensions and locations of these cavities or recesses are selected sothat the sides are in alignment, and the cavities or recesses formregular rows and columns in the surface of the board.

Beneath the board 1 the downwardly projecting side walls of the cavitiesand recesses are of the same depth so that all serve to support theboard 1, and they form between them open-ended channels or tunnelsextending substantially from edge to edge of the board in bothdirections. There are thus provided two parallel channels 7 running fromend to end of the board, and two transverse channels 8, running acrossthe board from side to side. These channels allow the fork limbs oflifting means to be inserted beneath the board 1 from any side, forlifting purposes. The widths and/or spacings of the channels areselected to allow insertion of different pairs of fork limbs varying asregards their width and/or spacings. Location of the edges of the siderecesses 3 and 4 inwardly of the edges of the board 1, leaves the latterfree to fit thereto hooks or'loops e.g. if it is desired to raise thepallet by crane. The side walls of the recesses and cavities areslightly inwardly inclined, so that each cavity or recess is offrusto-pydamidal shape, allowing a plurality of these pallets to nesttogether when stacked upon one another.

Preferably the areas of the flat upper surface of the board 1 (whichbears the load), and the total area of the undersurfaces of the legs" 2,3, 4, 6 are selected to ensure uniform pressure distribution, and, asillus-" trated, the flat upper surface may have an area of approximately50 percent of the overall plan area of the pallet, while the total areaof the undersurfaces of the legs" may have an area of approximately 40percent of the overall plan area of the pallet.

A pallet such as shown in FIGS. 1-5 is preferably moulded from plasticsmaterial. A thick layer 9 of foamed plastics material (FIG. 6) may beprovided on either or each of the upper and lower surfaces with alaminate sheet orfllm 10 of unfoamed plastics material (which may be thesame as, or different from the inner material 9). The moulding, in oneconvenient manner, may becarried out in accordance with the procedureset out in British Pat. No. 1,110,332. While the pallet may be of anydesired shape, size and relative dimensions, it is l more appropriatelymade for use in the United Kingdom in accordance with the standards laiddown in B.S.l Leaflet No. 2629, Part I, I967.

It will be noted that the incut gaps" 5 in the sides of the board 1facilitate engagement of a loop or grabs with the corners of the palletand prevent slipping while the pallet is being lifted. I

It should be understood that the invention is not limited solely to thedetails of the form described above, which may be modif ed, in order tomeet various conditions and requirements encountered, without departingfrom the scope ofthe invention.

What we claim is:

l. A pallet comprising a platform of overall rectangular plan shape,having a flat surface and a recess in the middle of each edge, a wallextending downwards below the platform from each edge of each of saidrecesses, the said walls of each recess joining a floor to formtherewith a three-sided box-like leg to support the platform, the freeedges of the walls at the open side of said box-like leg being locatedinwardly of and spaced from the edge of the platform, and openings inthe platform, from each of which extends downwards below the platform ahollow box-like structure forming a leg to support the platform, allsaid legs being of the same height and the whole structure beingintegrally moulded from plastics material.

2. A pallet according to claim 1 wherein the said edge recesses arerectangular.

3 .v A pallet according to claim 1 wherein the said openings arerectangular.

7. A pallet according to claim 1 wherein the flat supporting surface ofthe platform is not more than 50 percent of the overall plan area of thepallet.

8. A pallet according to claim 1 wherein the total base area of the legsis 40 per cent of the overall plan area of the pallet.

1. A pallet comprising a platform of overall rectangular plan shape,having a flat surface and a recess in the middle of each edge, a wallextending downwards below the platform from each edge of each of saidrecesses, the said walls of each recess joining a floor to formtherewith a three-sided box-like leg to support the platform, the freeedges of the walls at the open side of said box-like leg being locatedinwardly of and spaced from the edge of the platform, and openings inthe platform, from each of which extends downwards below the platform ahollow boxlike structure forming a leg to support the platform, all saidlegs being of the same height and the whole structure being integrallymoulded from plastics material.
 2. A pallet according to claim 1 whereinthe said edge recesses are rectangular.
 3. A pallet according to claim 1wherein the said openings are rectangular.
 4. A pallet according toclaim 1 comprising an opening constituting the mouth of a leg located ateach corner of the platform.
 5. A pallet according to claim 1 comprisinga central rectangular opening constituting the mouth of a central leg.6. A pallet according to claiM 1 wherein the side walls of the legstaper slightly inwardly.
 7. A pallet according to claim 1 wherein theflat supporting surface of the platform is not more than 50 percent ofthe overall plan area of the pallet.
 8. A pallet according to claim 1wherein the total base area of the legs is 40 per cent of the overallplan area of the pallet.